” We are passing ! “
“Yes, we pass, and quickly, without stopping in this land of exile. We are only passers-by .Faith and reason illuminate this truth cloudlessly: out of the bosom of God, we are heading for Him and returning! This is indisputable, inevitable! Whether one thinks of it or forgets, it does not change anything, one walks tirelessly, it is the law, no one can escape it. The generations succeed one another, each one follows, continues with alarming rapidity, each one leading the others who are being born, living and dying to an abyss of happiness or misfortune without end. We pass, .. why are we so strongly rooted in this poor earth, why fix our hopes so obstinately on seeking our rest and happiness. Wiser were the patriarchs who lived in tents!
We pass … It is good to ponder this truth, to illuminate this light! A passerby remains foreign to his surroundings, he is not unduly passionate or affected strongly by what he meets along the way, he thinks of the end of his journey. It all is transient, and he knows it.
On earth, it is the time of sowing, As is the seed, so is the harvest!! Sowers of time, reapers of eternity, this is summarized in our history. Every day, this thought penetrates us: we are sowing for eternity. If I go throwing good seed, faithfully serving God, fulfilling all my duties well in my state in life, it is good seed and I will gather it in the house the Lord with me in eternity.
St. Francis de Sales said: “« Tout passe et rien ne passe ; tout passe pour le temps et rien pour l’éternité. »
During this November, the memory of our dear departed is a salutary teaching and encouragement for us. They passed, taking their sheaf- sown merits … we will, too, try to live a holy life so that one day we spend it in the eternal dwellings!”
(Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud)